Ayumu In Kanto
by True-Narutoultra
Summary: While Osaka and Chihiro try to get the badges, they encounter an underground organization. Are they only scratching the surface though? Just when they think it's figured out, it just gets even more mysterious. Only Poke characters are Pokemon.
1. Our Heroine!

Chapter One: Our Heroine!

Osaka was born in, you guessed it, Osaka, a region near Unova. When she was ten, she moved to Johto, were she made two very good friends. One of them was an eccentric girl who dubbed her Osaka, the name easily stuck, even after moving to Kanto last month. Today, Osaka is going to receive her first Pokemon, as someone Prof. Kurosawa has decided is worthy of going into the world with her own Pokedex. The main problem being, however, that most view her as a moron, unfit to even own a Pokemon, much less undertake this giant task. The largest offenders being a girl named Kagura who has only Osaka(and sometimes Chihiro) to quench her thirst for competition and Chihiro, merely wanting to learn from her peers. With this information, let's begin!

*Plays Pokemon Theme To Azumanga Opening*

Osaka was standing in front of Prof. Kurosawa's laboratory, having managed to doze off just outside. Her dream was a vivid one that included her watching Magikarp perform a musical in a cabbage sea. She was the first to arrive, but hadn't gone in when Chihiro arrived.

"Um, Osaka." Chihiro said while shaking Osaka to wake her.

"You're not a Magikarp," Osaka stated. "I'm getting a Pokemon today," she said proudly to Chihiro.

"I'm getting one too, remember?" She replied, "Let's go in and get them now."

They walked into Kurosawa's lab, in all of it's florescent light and machinery. Three Pokemon were sitting on the table at the far end of the room: Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur. The Bulbasaur was sleeping and the Charmander was chasing his tail, something wich seemed to interest the Squirtle, but not as much as the people who had just entered the room. He nudged the Bulbasaur and pointed in the girls' direction. The Bulbasaur yawned in return. Kurosawa was sitting in a chair to the side, reading a novel.

"Hey Professor," Chihiro exclaimed, "These Pokemon look great," She had her eyes on the Squirtle as she said this.

Kurosawa looked up from her book. "Oh yes, they are specially chosen for beginning trainers such as yourselves," She informed, "Since you two got here first you may go ahead and claim one of them for yourselves."

Chihiro rushed to the table, she wanted to make her decision carefully, this was likely to decide who her close companion would be for years to come. The memories she would make and the battles she would endure with them. For her, it was mind-blowing. "I think..." She began.

"Bulbasaur." said Osaka.

The Pokemon in question looked directly at Osaka, trying to figure out why it's name has been called. The door behind them bashed open.

"I'm here for my Charmander!" Kagura shouted from the open door.

Take Squirtle or take nothing. Chihiro felt like she was just robbed, and had a disappointed look on her face.

"Guess that means you get Squirtle, huh Chihiro," Kurosawa remarked, seemingly unaware of Chihiro's feelings.

"yeah... I guess so," She replied.

"Well go ahead and nickname them," Kurosawa continued.

"Dragon!" Kagura shouted, now having moved to the table.

"Bubbles," Chihiro decided.

"Do what?" Osaka replied, Pokemon got nicknames?

"Here are your supplies," Kurosawa handed bags to each of the girls, "There is a Pokedex, five Pokeballs, your current Pokemon's Pokeball, maps and a few potions."

"I challenge you to a battle right here and now!" Kagura pointed straight to Osaka, "Come on Dragon." As she said this the Charmander jumped from his position on the table, already accepting his nickname, and flexed his right bicep.

"Oh, um, come on Salad!" The Bulbasaur began walking in Osaka's direction, fell of the table, landing head first, and wobbled to her.

"How cool!" Chihiro exclaimed, "Come over here Bubbles, let's watch."

_Author's Notes:  
That concludes chapter one. I can assure any readers new to this fic that later chapter improve greatly, namely 5 and 6 as of now. There will exist elements from anime, games and manga, but much of it will be original also. If it wasn't for plot points, I would actually suggest skipping to chapter 5, or maybe just 4. _


	2. Salad Vs Dragon!

Chapter Two: Dragon Versus Salad!

Kagura shouted her first orders, "Use scratch!"

"Jump, Tackle," Osaka replied

Dragon's claws glowed and he lurched towards Salad, who just barely avoided the attack by jumping into the air. Salad then came crashing down into him from above. Dragon visibly got angry, and started attacking independent of his master. Bulbasaur dodged these offenses easily, they weren't moves after all.

"Wait, stop Dragon, use Scratch instead!" Kagura's protest fell unheard to the Pokemon.

"Use Tackle." Osaka said, a little to calmly.

Salad hit Dragon straight on, again, and this proved a bit to much for Dragon. He toppled over, seemingly defeated. The three spectators began to clap, Chihiro being very surprised that Osaka paid attention through the entire fight. Kagura accepted the defeat in disbelief, and returned the Pokemon to his Pokeball. Both Osaka and Salad yawned after this, and Salad fell asleep.

"Um... Professer," Osaka began, "How do I put him back in the Pokeball?"

"Just point it at him and press down on the sides," Kurosawa replied, "Shouldn't you be a tad more excited though? You won your first Pokemon battle today."

"That's just how she is Kurosawa," Chihiro replied, "Excitement isn't her thing."

"You may have defeated us today, but we'll be back, stronger than before," Kagura claimed, "I challenge you now Chihiro!"

Quite anti-climatically, Chihiro replied "You have to heal your Pokemon first." She continued, "You did great Osaka, let's go catch ourselves some Pokemon!"

Chihiro and Osaka left the lab together, also leaving Kagura to question Kurosawa on where she could heal her Pokemon at. They looked out into the fields before them. That's all there really was in Pallet Town, fields. Several Pidgy, Spearow and Rattata ran through the sizable grass before them. Osaka broke the period of silence by throwing a pokeball at one of the Rattata, not only missing by what seemed like a mile, but not even bothering to weaken him.

"Osaka, you have to battle them first, you know, to weaken them," Chihiro told the girl, while on the verge of a giggle fit. "Watch how I do it."

"Go Bubbles!" As she said this, her Squirtle, Bubbles, leaped out of a red light. He looked back at Chihiro waiting for orders.

"Okay, use tackle on that Pidgy over there," Chihiro ordered while pointing to the bird in question. It had it's back turned to the group and was hit head on by Bubbles. The Pidgy fluttered a little then turned around and used Sand Attack. "Dodge," She yelled, the squirtle just barely dodged the offense, "Now tackle!" the Pidgy dived straight into the squirtle this time, using Peck. The two clashed. "Tail Whip, then Tackle!" The tail whip caused the Pidgy's feathers and skin to soften, It tried to flee at this moment, but was followed zealously by Chihiro, just barely keeping up with it. Bubbles jumped into her now cupped hands and was launched upwards where it exucuted a rather powerful tackle. The Pidgy fell to the ground, and was quickly hit by Chihiro's Pokeball.

"_New Pokemon captured, Pidgy, Flying-Normal. Bubbles can now use Bubble_" Chihiro's Pokedex spoke up. Osaka suddenly had a look of horror on her face, was someone trapped in that Poke-watchamacallit!

"Wha-" She began, before being interrupted by Chihiro.

"It's a built in feature of the Pokedex, from a recorded voice, don't worry." She began, "Now you try to catch a Pokemon."

Osaka stepped forward, "Come on out Salad," she said, and the Bulbasaur appeared from the same red aura as Bubbles. "Why is it red?" She quietly mused.

"_Salad can now use Leech Seed_" The Pokedex answered.

"Ah." Osaka replied.

A Rattata appeared in the grass in front of Osaka, "Salad, use Leech Seed on that thing." Osaka commanded. Following this Bulbasaur promptly attacked Bubbles. Osaka watched, unsure what to do.

"Hey! Stop it, she meant the Rattata!" Chihiro returned the Squirtle to his Pokeball. The Bulbasaur then turned to the Ratata and tried again, hitting the target. The Ratata got angry and launched at Bulbasaur, a few seconds passed.

"Side step, attack now!" The Bulbasaur swiftly swerved to the side, in perfect time to prevent the Rattata's escape, the bashed into his side, a massively critical hit. Osaka then threw her Pokeball, which landed short of the Rattata. She walked up to the Pokeball and proceeded to drop it onto the Rattata, ensuring capture.

"_New Pokemon captured, Rattata, Normal_"

"Come on, let's get our Pokemon healed, these potion will be handy, but it's about time we headed to the next town." Chihiro said.

Osaka nodded in agreement. The sun was still high and she already gave her father her goodbyes. The pair reached the boundary leading to the many well-kept paths which led to Viridian City. The journey would be relatively short, but they needed to leave while it was still morning to avoid spending the night in the wilderness. Aside from the few battles Osaka and Chihiro had to toughen up their Pokemon, the trip was relatively uneventful. They ate their packed lunches half way there and made it with only an hour or two of daylight left. They decided to battle once they had reached town.

_Author's Notes:_

_The next chapter may include some completely original plot elements, I don't want to copy the games or the anime. The chapters may get longer also. It seems to be following Gym Leader plot, but has another under laying plot. I found all the mistakes I could find._


	3. Telekinesis!

Chapter Three-Telekinesis!

Osaka and Chihiro had finally reached Viridian City, and spent the night at the local Pokemon Center, the next day they took a walk looking for Pokemon and information about the locked Gym door. It was still early enough for dew to lay on the grass, and the sun to have done little to heat the air. Viridian was somewhat similar to Pallet, it had fields to the sides, and was bordered by a forest. The houses had a good amount of land to them, but you might be able to see from one side of the town to the other with the help of binoculars, being the second smallest town in Kanto. Chihiro guessed roughly sixty or seventy people lived there. A balding old man with a long beard noticed the pair.

"Hey, are you two there trainers?" He asked, walking to them.

"Yeah, we just started." Chihiro enthusiastically replied, she loved mornings.

"Then, I s'pose you already know 'bout Telekinesis?" He inquired, focusing only on Chihiro, as Osaka went unnoticed.

"What if my uncle is a telephone?" Osaka's comment went without notice.

"Well, ya' really don't know?" He started again, "You prolly done done some of it, when you nicknamed yer' Pokemon, did they start listenin right away?"

"Yeah, they did," Chihiro nodded.

The old man prepared a explanation, "When ya' start out, you give yer Pokemon vocal commands, but if ya' get real good, you can kinda just understand each other. If you just focus on it, your Pokemon does what ya' want them to, and you ain't gotta say nothing. It's mighty helpful."

"I see, I see," She had a pen and paper out, and was nudging Osaka whenever she stopped paying attention. She jotted down the basics.

"Watch dis'," He let a Pokemon out of a Pokeball, a Growlithe came out, and immediately attacked a nearby tree, then caught the falling fruit.

"Cool, let's try it out against each other," Chihiro let Bubbles out of one of her Pokeball. Osaka followed suit and released Salad.

Then, Bubble dashed straight at Salad and released a Tackle. Salad waited until it was upon him, he then dodged the brute of the attack, avoiding a critical hit, but getting a critical hit of his own with Leech Seed. Bubbles then used Bubble, Salad dodged two of three projectiles, then hit back with Tackle. The two of them reared back, and hit head on with tackles, dazing them both. They stood for a few seconds before Salad's earlier Leech Seed finished Bubbles off.

"Wowie!" The old man exclaimed, "Y'all take to battlin' like Beedrill to honey, dat was great!" Chihiro blushed at the praise, but Osaka's composure didn't falter.

Suddenly, intruding on whatever Chihiro was about to say, a loud, gun-shot sound alarmed from the forest past the edge of town. Immediately after this, a swarm of Beedrill rushed into the city.

"Ah, crap those Beedrill are mighty dangerous when reared up, you oughta get of here," The old man advised the young trainers.

"No way!" Chihiro exclaimed, they could do some real damage in that state, something had the Beedrill acting very aggresively. She sent out her Pidgy as the old man sent Growlithe.

The Pidgy flew into the air and took out two Beedrill with Pecks before becoming a target of attack, the old man's Growlithe assisted with Ember. Osaka had dropped her Pokeball and was reaching for it. The Beedrill started to get the point, and seemed to be backing off. Osaka accidently kicked the Pokeball away from her as the Pidgy used his flying skills to avoid harm, it took out another three Beedrill before being hit. There were still enough Beedrill to cause harm, so Chihiro healed Bubbles and sent him out, he used Bubble with Growlithe's amber and scared the last few away. The danger was over.

"Go Rattata!" Osaka, by her standard anyway, said enthusiastically.

...

Back at the Pokecenter, the group of three, including the old man, healed their Pokemon.

"Ya'll are great at battlin', you could prolly go for the championship," The old man mentioned.

"Yeah, that's what we're planning to do, but now that I think about it, I'm not exactly sure how to go about it," Chihiro replied.

"Oh, it's real simple like," He explained, "From what I know, you gotta go challenge the Gym Leaders, there are eight of 'em in this region, and that's how many you need to beat. You have to collect the Badges, to prove ya' beat 'em right and all. Most go in this order: Stone Badge, Torrent Badge, Flora Badge, Jumbo Badge, Fist Badge, Wire Badge, Fury Badge and Spire Badge. The one in this here town has the Spire Badge, but he ain't here now, most say he's by far the most powerful Gym Leader alive today. You gotta get 'em all in the next few months though, cuz' the tournament takes place only once a year. Closest is in Pewter City."

"Oh, thanks, you hear that Osaka, we're going straight to Pewter City!" Chihiro was excited, this was where their journey really began. The forest was a nice place to catch Pokemon though, so she didn't mind if it took a little while.

From: "Words Explained: T Edition"

"_Telekinesis: This word once had a very much duel meaning. Due to the influence of Psychic-Type Pokemon, it developed into a slang word for anything falling under the psy umbrella. Though this meaning has sunken into disuse, the man, whose name is now lost, who coined the term was referring to this meaning. The reason for it's preservation is the fact that many hold that it is quite different from telepathy in a few key ways"_

_Authors Notes: There is chapter 3, and I like the way it's going so far. I'll have to say that chapters 4-6 look far better than than the ones so far. Sorry if this one is a bit generic or cheesy, I just needed to introduce the mission and telekinesis. I'll have to say, thanks to the efforts of Chargone, I'm certainly improving my writing style._


	4. Rock Hard!

The pair were walking through Viridian Forest, quite larger than the city, the trees were mostly about a yard or two from each other. It was nearly as bright in the forest as out, although the boundaries weren't actually that distinguished. For the most part, unremarkable Weedle and Caterpie crawled along the ground.

"Hey, Osaka, look," Chihiro gestured towards a Butterfree that was floating along the forest, "You don't see many full grown Butterfree around here."

"How do you know it's fully grown?" Osaka questioned.

"Well it's already a- never mind, I think I'll try to catch it," Chihiro brought out her Pokeball and released Pidgy. The Pidgy immediately burst into Peck, but the Butterfree dodged, and used Confusion, hitting the target. It started to flee but Pidgy followed it, the two going in a somewhat circular motion. Both scarcely dodging trees until the Pidgy circled around and caught the enemy by surprise with Gust. Chihiro hit it with relative ease using her Pokeball. Another success.

"_New Pokemon captured, Butterfree, Bug-Flying, partial to psychic attacks." The Pokedex sounded._

Nothing very eventful took place through the rest of the journey, although it was lengthy, three or four hours. Before they knew it they were facing the Pewter Gym. Pewter was much larger than the other destinations so far, It could truthfully be called a city, complete with hospital, police and a museum. It took roughly 20 minutes of navigation to find the Gym, but it was the second stop they made, after the routine Pokemon Center visit.

The lights in the massive room were off, but there was a faint glow from what looked like star stickers on the walls, illuminating mountain like structures. Directly in front of Chihiro nothing was visible. Then from the darkness:

"Prepare for trouble." Said a scratchy, mechanical voice, vaguely female.

"And make it double." Followed a gentleman's voice.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and-" There was a loud clicking sound, and the lights came on, revealing a well-dressed, thin man with purple hair. He was holding a tape recorder.

"Oh, it just isn't the same without my dear Jackie," He started rambling, "Since we became Gym Leaders we can't battle together anymore! Oh how I miss the days!" His voice was crawling to historics, "She was the only one for me, and now she is far away, taking another Gym, in another part of Kanto. How tragic! I always think-"

Chihro yelled out, "Hey! We don't know who this Jackie person is, but were here to challenge the Gym Leader!" This was just getting ridulous.

"Oh, that would be I, and I am indeed him, John, the Pewter Gym Leader," The eccentric man, now known as John, replied.

"Jackie sounds nice..." Osaka mused. John ran straight to the girl and began a new speech.

"Indeed she is! Her battle skills are impeccable, and her flowing pink hair majestic! It's all to bad tha-"

"Can we just battle!" Chihiro raised her voice to the man.

"You guys use to many exclamation points," Osaka stated.

"Sure, sure, I'll battle the girl who praised Jackie first," he began, "You will partake in a two on two battle here, against my Rock Type Pokemon, hope you're ready."

"Sure?" Osaka replied.

The stage was set for a battle between the two, the field was mountainous, though to a small degree. There were boulders here and there, varying greatly in size, and in the corner was a sandy area.

"Go, Kabuto, I put trust in you!" John's Kabuto appeared from the infamous red glow, and reared up, battle ready.

"Rattata." Osaka's Pokemon came out in a similar manner.

"GO!" Shouted Chihiro, working as witness to this battle.

The Kabuto immediately launched a Water Gun, which Rattata dodged by rolling down the hill, the Kabuto crawled after it. Rattata used Quick Attack to ram into the pursuiter, then followed up with Tail Whip, softening it's shell. The Kabuto launched a scratch at the Ratata, and scrapped it's target, both Pokemon held back for a little, and used Leer and Tail Whip respectively a few times. Rattata broke the trend with Quick Attack, and then was hit from behind with Tackle. Osaka returned Rattata, and sent out Salad. One Tackle was all it took to finish Kabuto.

"You may think you've won, but I'm the opposite of done! You'll be weeping in the end, as in Onix I depend!" The giant Pokemon was sent out to combat Salad.

The Onix dug into the ground, and Salad ran over to a nearby boulder, before Onix surfaced and then used Bind. The Onix saw no resistance, so began to squeeze. Salad use Sleep Powder, then put all of his energy into a Vine Whip which sent the Onix crashing into the nearby boulder. When the Onix awoke, he was already dazed, and Salad got a few good Vine Whips in, causing the beast to faint

"Great job Osaka!" Chihiro came up to the girl with her hand ready for a high-five. Said high-five took about nine seconds, due to Osaka's delayed reaction.

"Ah, bested by a small girl, though with eyes of pearl. The Stone Badge you have earned, and much is what I've learned!" John replied, "So, you there, Chihiro, do you want to take a go?"

"Sure!" Chihiro replied.

The stage was left as it was at the end of Osaka's battle, the boulder bits still on the field.

"Go my dear Geodude, I hope your in the mood!" Said Pokemon was sent onto the feild. In return Chihiro sent out her rather recently caught Butterfree.

The Butterfree immediately started with Confusion, as the Geodude dodged and retaliated with Rock Throw. The Butterfree was not as lucky and was brought to the ground, where Geodude used Selfdestruct. "Can't have someone that pesky against my next Pokemon," John commented. Both fainted. John sent out Ryhdon and Chihiro sent out Bubbles. The Ryhorn rushed into a Fury Attack, Bubbles dodged one outburst then grabbed onto the horn and released a Watar Gun into the Rhyhorn's face, the third and fourth attacks hit, however. The Rhyhorn went into another Fury Attack, but Bubbles dodged by firing a Bubble at the ground, from his new position in the air, he dropped straight onto the Rhyhorn and used a devastating Rock Smash. The final move used was another Water Gun.

"Oh such a tragedy, three losses in two days!" John exclaimed, to Cihiro's annoyance.

"Wait, three?" Osaka asked.

"Yes, Kagura was her name, and she claimed battling her game."

Oh, that's great, she's a step ahead of us," Chihiro replied. She turned to Osaka, "Let's get a move on."

They left the Gym, spent the evening battling local trainers, and found themselves at the Pokemon Center outside Mt. Moon by the day's end.

_Author's Note: I'm sure some things were horribly wrong. I've come to greatly appreciate the certain user putting up with my literature technique while both helping and teaching. Hopefully I'll just be getting better and better. Also, this is a little rushed due to computer problems._

_Thanks Chargone._


	5. Dark Days!

Chapter 5: Dark Days!

_Dear Kaorin,_

_So far so good. I got a cool new Butterfree, and I started out with a Squirtle who I nicknamed Bubbles. He's the best! I'll admit John, the first Gym Leader, was impossibly wacky, and also a little easy to beat, but it was still fun to battle. The money we had to start, and the other we got for defeating John, is lasting nicely, but we may end up taking odd jobs between Gym Leaders. I know you said you weren't going to go on an adventure of your own, but it is incredibly fun so far. Do you still like painting very much? If I become a champion you'll be the first to paint my victory portrait. By the time you write back I should be in Cerulean._

_With Love,_

_Chihiro_

_P.S. I hear the Slateport Festival is coming around. Make sure to have loads of fun!_

"Okay Osaka, let's get on the road," Chihiro said as she picked up her backpack and handed the letter to a boy with a Pelliper. It was common for people of different regions to send letters via highly trained Flying Pokemon, and the letter would reach Chihiro within days with this speedy bird. It would be dropped by the city, where a paperboy would finish delivery to the exact address. Chihiro would have to receive her letter at the post office in Cerulean. She then saw Osaka conversing with a shady man in the corner and receiving a small bag. She rushed to Osaka, "What did you just buy?" She exclaimed. _"Knowing Osaka she could have spent her life-savings on pencil sharpeners..."_

"Snuff." Osaka said. Chihiro face was full of surprise.

"What! Osa-"

"I mean, stuff."

"Oh, thank god, what kind of stuff?"

"A cool fish Pokemon, Magokarp, I think."

"Osaka, Magikarp are useless," Chihiro informed. _"Snuff would have been a better investment..."_

"'No refunds' He said."

"Whatever."

They set off through the cave, and within the hour found themselves in a state of semi-lost. They knew where the paths were, but not where any of the exits were or where they led. Zubat were in abundance, and this was nothing to comfort the girls. The shadows of other trainers were easily frightening. There were small, luminescent light fixtures littering the walls, some unusually close to the ground from where children were undoubtably allowed to help. Some areas carried on as small enclosed tunnels, others were more vast and expansive.

"Woohoo!" A strange, malnourished man with glasses exclaimed amongst a crowd of a few people. "You people better not be after my new fossils!" A pile containing dozens of fossils was littered on the floor behind the the man, and spanned the length of a small closing leading forward through the cavern

"We aren't, we're just trying to get through the cave sir," a young girl replied. The blond curls flowing down her pink dress would have melted icy hearts.

"I won't believe that one, anyone who gets near here is in for a beating!" He exclaimed.

Chihiro noticed the obstruction of course, some people just got on her nerves, and this was undoubtedly one "Hey let these people pass!" Chihiro yelled, "Nobody wants your crappy fossils anyway!"

"You're one of them! Come any closer and my Pokemon will destroy you," He let a Bellsprout and a Manky out of a Pokeball.

"Come on Osaka, let's kick his butt," Chihiro looked over to see Osaka had disappeared from sight, "I'll beat you myself then." She sent out Pidgy and Bubbles.

...

In the corner of the cave, Osaka saw a rather queer sight, a man in a an orange-yellow jumpsuit was slipping into a small crevice in the wall. This caught Osaka's eye, and she followed through the cave to investigate. She found herself coming upon a grand sight. There were glowing stones littered within the ceiling and walls of the cave, beyond Osaka's knowledge, they were the rare Moon Stones. Osaka saw that the man earlier mentioned was putting a small mechanical, black device with a red glowing middle into the wall. He began speaking to himself.

"Okay, this little thing is packed with enough explosives to bring the cave to the ground, but just under this floor should be exactly what we're looking for." He turned around to see Osaka staring at him. "Aw crap, you've seen a bit to much little girl, I'm afraid I'll have to take _you _into custody," He said, as he let his Pokemon, a Meowth, out of it's ball.

"Huh?" Osaka replied. The man didn't look like cop, in that jumpsuit he looked more like part of an underground organization to Osaka, and one that didn't have the brightest costume designer at that. If Osaka was to design the costume it would probably be black and dark green, kind of camoflou-

"I'm going to knock you out and take you back to boss, that's what!"

"Oh, go Salad!" Salad appeared from Osaka's Pokeball.

...

Bellspourt launched Razor Leaf onto Chihiro's Pokemon, the Pidgey used gust to deflect the offense, then Bubbles headed straight to the Bellspourt with Tackle, but was intercepted by Manky's Karate Chop. The Pidgey dived into a Peck, hitting the Mankey head on, Bellspourt was close enough and use Bind on the bird, but Bubbles saved it with a Tackle. Each Pokemon was damaged, and were about to go into the rumble again. Bellsprout and Bubbles clashed with Razor Leaf and Watar Gun, Pidgey released a Gust that harmed the Mankey, having no projectile. Bellsprout's offense overcame Bubbles'. Both Mankey and Squirtle fainted, and Pidgey finished Bellspourt off with a Peck.

The man sent out a Magnamite, which Thundershocked Pidgey into submission, and Chihiro let her Butterfree out.

"This isn't over by a long shot!" They said in unison.

...

The Meowth went past Salad, and aimed straight at Osaka, who was barely able to dodge it's slash by ducking.

"My Meowth is far too fast for a Pokemon as weak as yours," The man said with malice. The Mewoth launched at Osaka again, and Salad could do no more than throw itself in the way. A critical hit.

_You don't need to do this Salad!_

_You're my trainer, I'll protect you._

_You aren't strong enough though!_

Salad launched Vine Whip, and both vines where easily evaded by Meowth. It hit Osaka in the stomach with it's claws, and her outfit showed a bit of blood in the wounds center, which was long enough to encompass her entire mid-section.

"Ah!" Osaka exclaimed.

Salad knew this shouldn't be happening, a Pokemon wasn't meant to attack humans! This Meowth was just a step above him though, forget about trainer skills, Salad wasn't up to the challenge.

"You know what, I change my mind!" The man shouted, "Finish her off!"

...

The Pokemon had been battling for a bit, each dodging the stronger hits.

_This is one of the great things about being a trainer, beating down jerks like this guy. Blocking littles girls from making their way through a mountain cave! Wait... why is a little girl in a mountain cave? I guess that doesn't matter, a jerk is a jerk after all. Score! The Magnamite fainted! _The exhileration of battle settled, and she found herself thinking of Osaka again.

"Oh, I hope Osaka is Okay," She mused aloud.

"Thank you miss," The young girl from earlier said, "That man was a jerk."

"Why, your welcome," She thought for a moment, "In return, do you know the way out of here?"

"Yeah, I have a map, it's fine though I have it memorized." She handed the paper containing said map to Chihiro.

"Thanks," She turned away, "Just where is Osaka though?" She knew the girl was likely to get into trouble without someone's help. She had forgotten her suspicion of this little girl. She certainly wasn't there for any normal reason anyway, Chihiro had that much right.

...

At this point a surge of energy was felt in both Osaka and Salad. A sudden, stunning glow encompassed the Pokemon and suddenly he was going through a change. The bud on the Pokemon's back flourished to a degree, it's limbs and body grew out, and both Pokemon and trainer were filled with a new energy.

"Gwoar!" Salad yelled out.

_"Salad evolved into Ivysaur, congratulations!" _The Pokedex spoke up.

Salad launched a Razor Leaf straight into the Meowth, and followed up with a devastating Take Down, smashing the now frail in comparison Pokemon into the wall. It then hit the bomb on the far wall with a single Leaf, severing a cord which connected the glowing red to the black around it, disarming it and causing the red glow to fade. Osaka's wound, although long, was relatively shallow, she got up.

"This is impossible!" The man yelled, "I'll kill you with my own two hands." Bulbasaur hit him with a Sleep Powder. Osaka walked over to the disarmed bomb, and tucked it into her bag. She intended to ask Chihiro about it, but that slipped her mind. Osaka returned Salad to his Pokeball, and made her way out of the cave within a cave.

"Hey Chihiro," She said, upon seeing the girl. The emotions that probably should have been filling her voice absent.

"Where did you get those scratches?" She asked, but knowing that Osaka was unlikely to make good sense, and probably tripped or something, continued, "We need to get to Cerulean right away, let's go."

Right away was definitely not the time they made, it was, however, still good time. The ending of the cave was not really that far away, and both girls were very tired. At that point Chihiro was strongly driven by a simple desire, a desire to not spend the night in a creepy cave, "T_here is no way in heck I am spending the night in here! We'd have to keep watch, and I could never trust Osaka." _So the two didn't stop, despite Osaka's occasional complaint.

Osaka thoughts began in an orderly fashion, "W_hat could that man have been doing? It looked like he was trying to blow the whole cave down! Like he was trying to get to something..." _The thoughts wandered, "_Boom boom pow, gotta get that. boom boom pow, gotta get that!" _They turned to music for a bit, and eventually was lost to the godforsaken land of irrelevance.

Chihiro's were better composed at the least, "A_t least I showed that freak a thing or two, taking those fossils hasn't done a thing to my conscience, and why should it?" _The irony of the situation made her giggle also, the fact that the man's defense of his fossils was the very thing to get them taken, "_There are so many weirdos out here!" _Thinking of John and the unnamed fossil collector. _But what about that girl? She left as soon as she gave me the map, but someoe her age certianly shouldn't be out and about all alone in a cave at night._

They reached the cave's end, and was greeted by night, the glowing of light fixtures placed by those helping to make the journey of travellers easier being replaced by the light of the moon and stars. A rugged path pointed to the out of view city. Spearow rustled through the trees, and Ekans traversed the grasses lower on the slightly slanting hill.

"Sleep?" Osaka muttered, not being willed to make a larger effort of speech.

"Yes, Osaka," Chihiro was laying her own sleeping bag out. The distance between city's was large enough for days of travel to be spent, but starting from Pallet, they had avoided long travel until now, and this was still relatively short. Sleep befell the two of them. The only dangerous Pokemon were the Ekans, and they stayed much further down the path.

...

The nervous man stood before his boss and mustered the lie he had prepared, "I'm sorry to say that the search in Mt. Moon yielded no results. The underground path did not begin under the mountain. Two unnaturally large, sharp, oval eyes peered from the darkness. A stunning black blot making for an iris and pupil. They were almost feline. His voice was gritty and immensely deep.

"You have failed, and for that you shall die!" A voice yelled. the man screamed in anticipation of his fate.

"Just joking," the voice exclaimed. A pause ensured.

"We cool?" It asked.

"Uh, yes sir, we're, um, cool," The man managed.

"Like, I'm still invited to the bachelor party cool, that kind of cool?"

"Yes, of course sir," The man left.

"Good," the pupils looked up, "We're cool."

The still beyond view face took off the Darth Vader mask with gigantic eye holes that was distorting his voice.

_Author's notes: Best chapter yet if you ask me, and probably pushed the story in the direction it needed to go, I may have to rewrite and omit chunks of 6 this way, but it goes to show that you need to make sure you're done before moving on. I really, _really_ hope the fight scene wasn't confusing for anyone, if it is, I'll knock the fighting scenes down another notch on the priority list. No more two on two battles also, I don't know what I was thinking._

_Thanks to anyone who actually read through five chapters of story, and doubles for commenting *ahem* "reviewing" on the way, triple for the gigantically, critically helpful revies(ones most aren't lucky enough to have.) _

_For any questioners, both the girl and the "jumpsuit man" will play large parts later on._


	6. Theft and KungFu!

Kagura lacked the initiative that drove Chihiro to reach the cave's end, and spent the night inside the cave instead, she honestly wasn't all that distanced from Chihiro and Osaka. She was earlier to bed, and she was earlier to rise, the cave keeping it's atmosphere day or night, and of course Kagura had no one to keep watch. Her Pokeballs were kept close to her person, but her money, badge and other supplies were kept in a backpack. Said backpack was gone. As Kagura woke up she reached for it, and felt nothing but empty air fill her grasp. She jumped to her feet and scanned the area, _"Crap crap crap, I can't lose my stuff, I left it right here!" _She saw someone she hoped could help, it was a little girl with gracefully hanging blond curls and a pink dress, she was skipping along the cave. _"There! Maybe she saw it!"_

"Hey! Little girl! Did ya' see who took my stuff?" She called out.

The girl looked in her direction, "Hm? Your backpack? A Ghastly went off in that direction," She pointed behind Kagura, the direction that led to the cave's Cerulean exit, "He- I mean she was giggling while the backpack floated next to her," She paused before continuing, "If you see Chihiro say hello for me."

"Thanks!" Kagura turned and started off, but then a few questions came to mind. "_Wait, she knows Chihiro? She also knows that I know her?" _When Kagura looked back nobody was there to quench her curiosity. "_Strange, but now that I think about it, how did she tell a Ghastly's gender by looks alone? And Ghastly giggle? I guess getting my stuff back is more important, and kicking butt while doing it I bet!" _She traversed the same paths recently traversed by Chihiro and Osaka.

Her thoughts were taken by keeping a keen eye for any backpack carrying Ghastly, not many of the species were to be seen in Mount Moon, it was mostly Zubat and Parasect. Finally, one was spotted, it was in a small crevice just large enough to fit it and the backpack, and just above Kagura's height. She spotted it and used her hands to pull her head about level with the crevice. Up close it was seen that the Ghastly had unzipped a pouch, and was eating a moon pie while levitating a small mirror in front of him. _"Ghost's eat things? You learn something new everyday I guess." _The Ghastly turned to face her, and delivered a large lick to the face, causing Kagura to loose grip and fall to the floor, and a black streak from the moon pie to leave itself on her face.

"That does it, you're in for it Ghastly! Go Bolt!" A sleek, confident Pikachu found it's way from the red light, it was the only Pokemon Kagura had caught thus far. It scaled the wall and delivered a Thundershock into the crevice. Ghastly floated from the hole, and was hit by Thunderwave, casuing it to crash to the ground itself as Bolt landed steadily on his feet. The Thundershock caused the crevice to collapse though, and the back pack was no longer in sight. An idea struck however, _"If I catch the ghastly he can float through and get it back for me!" _She threw a Pokeball at the Ghastly and caught it.

_"New Pokemon captured, Ghastly, Ghost-Poison Type" _The Pokedex commented.

Kagura thought of nicknames for a moment. _"Ghost? Way to plain. Haunter? Wait, no, it evolves into Haunter. Phantom, Dark, Shadow, Shade." _She vocalized the last part, "Shade, that has a nice ring to it. Come out Shade!" The Ghastly came from the pokeball. Shade turned to face it's new trainer. She had heard of Telekinesis herself from John, but didn't catch on quite as quick, she would need a little more time with Ghastly to develop some things. "Go get the backpack you lost." Shade turned and stuck her tongue out. Along with her pokeballs, Kagura also kept her pokedex on her, she picked it from her pocket and, with intent to throw it at Shade, squeezed rather tightly.

_"Pokemon Encylopedia function activated. State your subject or problem." _

The voice stunned Kagura and stopped her from throwing it, she thought for a second and then replied, "Well, this Pokemon won't obey me."

_"Pokemon Obedience: Some pokemon will not take orders readily from a trainer, usually they are stronger than what the trainer is adept to handle, but this is not always so. The Gym Badges have many purposes, one is that pokemon recognize something in their composition that shows dominance. The more badges a trainer has, the more likely they are to obtain obedience," _Then, in lower voices, _"Are you done recording? No, shh, I said be quiet." _The Pokedex then silenced.

Kagura looked back to the Ghastly, "You know I have a Gym Badge right?" Shade raised her eyebrow critically. _"Wha... eyebrow?"_

"No seriously, it was a great match." The pokemon merely shook her head in disbelief.

"In fact, I've got three, just look in there and you can see," She claimed as she pointed to the bag, "If you find a badge, you have to obey from here on out, if there are less than three you can have another moon pie." Shade raised his head, as if in thought, then dashed through the rubble and returned with a bag in his teeth, she then hurled it towards Kagura.

"Oh lookie here, one badge," She said as she held it up, "I said if there were any badges you had to obey though, of course you still get a moonpie." She tossed the treat to Shade, who began eating right away. Both pokemon and snack were sent into Kagura's Pokeball.

...

The girls had slept a degree past sunrise, the feel of morning being deprived from their environment as they awoke. Well as Chihiro awakened, and Osaka slept soundly. The Ekan crawling through grasses were mostly relaxing at this point, and the number of Spearows had seemed to increase. Among the grasses Nidoran and Abra were also featured. North, and at a left from the exit of the mountain, was a river that had several Goldeen and Magikarp jumping out on occasion. The flow still enough to make nearly no noise.

"Sleeping on the ground might take a little getting used to," She declared, though to no one in particular. She got up slowly and began stretching before remembering Osaka needed to be woken from her slumber. She squatted next to her and began shaking her limp body.

"Hey, Osaka, rise and shine," She said, in a slightly lower than usual voice.

Osaka had been having another marvelous pokemon dream, one forgotten soon after slumber had ended though. She slowly began to rise to a sitting position, and then to her feet. It was almost painful for Chihiro to watch the venture that certainly took longer than it should have.

"Salad evolved," She told Chihiro as soon as she was properly awake. She had forgotten to recount this fact until now, her thoughts being taken by... well you remember.

"Wow really? Just what were doing while you were gone anyway?" Chihiro inquired, her original inference that it was Osaka being Osaka that caused the injury fading, the scratches were starting to look like a Pokemon must have done it.

"Oh, well this guy was going in this place in the cave, he looked weird so I followed him," Osaka began to recount, not quite using the vocabulary required to make it vivid, but still having said vocabulary present. "There was this really pretty part of the cave, a bunch of glowing rocks were in the walls, and he put a bomb on the wall, saying what he needed was just below the ground," Osaka paused in thought, making sure she was going to say what she needed to say, "He tried to attack me, but then Salad evolved and saved me." Neatly leaving out the conversation that she barely recalled and the fact that the bomb was in her bag.

Chihiro had remembered something when Osaka was talking, the appearance of the strange girl in the cave. Chihiro thought of recounting it to Osaka, but figured she would probably come out of the conversation more confused than going in, and suggested that they take their leave instead. This they did, and made their way down the somewhat rugged and wide road to Cerulean. They saw and battled a few pokemon, some of which put up a sizable fight, until at one point...

"Hey you two over there! The girl trainers!" A voice called from atop a hill. Both Chihiro and Osaka looked in that direction and saw the man. He was probably about middle aged and had what looked like a kung-fu outfit with ripped sleeves and a red headband on. His black hair was only long enough to line the top of his headband. He jumped to the position just in front of the girls and began a small speech.

"Me and my companion and rival just over the hill have been in heated debate for months over which move is better. The punch or the kick," He demanstated a basic move of each type. "We need neutral trainers such as yourselves to help us decide which exactly is better, and we can finally end our never ending heated debate of incredibly intelligent albeit never ending debatable subject of debate and non-endingness... in heat." All of which came out of his mouth at very high speeds.

Chihiro merely stood dumbfounded, she had a basic idea of what was going on, but honestly could scarcely follow. She was about to ask this astoundingly hyper martial arts enthusiast to repeat himself when Osaka spoke up instead.

"So you need us to follow you and give our opinions on which is better, punch or kick, in your never ending heated debate of incredibly inte- that thing?" Osaka inquired of the man. She could have recounted the whole thing, but found herself fed up with the very idea of it.

"Yes little girl, as reward we will let you learn the not so ancient techniques of ultimate punching and kicking or something else just as suitable, follow me."

_"Go off with this completely insane stranger in the middle of a little traveled road to his camp over the hill and out of view?" _Chihiro went over in her head while looking to the sky, _"Does he think we're idiots?" _She looked forward to see both Osaka and the man passing over the hill though, and hurried to catch up with the girl.

"Osaka are you nuts? We don't even know this guy!"

"Don't be ridiculous, if I was I'd be much crunchier."

"No, I mean are you mad?"

"I'm not mad at all, I'm happy as ever!"

"Osaka what I mean to say is..." She remembered what she meant to accomplish at the start, "forget it, the point was, we're-"

"We're here!" The man announced.

There were two tents set up around a shabbily made dojo. In front of one of them was a man who mirrored the one who had met Chihro and Osaka, only with brown hair. The tent to the right had a flag proclaiming "Kicking Rulez!" and the left read that "Punching Rockz!"

"Look we should really get going, Ceruluen is just down the road, and we were spending the night there and the Gym-" Chihiro began explaining.

"No need, certainly no need, I assume you have Pokemon that can learn Mega Punch and Mega Kick?" He asked the duo as he ruffled Chihro's hair.

Osaka thought for a second, "None of my Pokemon are bipedal, will that be a problem?" She inquired. The man merely shook his head in dissapointment.

The other man who had been standing near the Kicking Rulez! tent dashed over and began a speech in a voice sounding strangely like the original man. "Then we shall have a new solution, we shall each use one Pokemon who can only use either kicks or punches, the one that this girl defeats more quickly will be the one who is weaker than the other! Or the one that is defeated if only one is, or the one she lasts against longer if both are not defeated! With the reward of the Pokemon belonging to the loser at that!"

Osaka turned to Chihiro with a serious look on her face, "This is a challenge to find the answer to one of life's greatest questions. Will you, Chihiro, go forward and take the challenge, win the battles and reap your reward? Before you lays the door to martial arts and another lifelong freind! Are you ready?"

Chihiro was getting caught in the excitement stirred by the kicking enthusiast and Osaka, she replied in a quiet voice "I... I will."

Osaka started again, louder this time, "I said: Are You Ready!"

Chihiro raised her voice also, "Yes, yes I am!"

"I said: ARE YOU READY!"

"YES! Go Bubbles, destroy them!" She had been completely trapped in the unintentional random antics of Osaka, and was lusting for the battle.

The punching enthusiast spoke up, "Go Fist!" A Machop burst from the pokeball. The other let his pokemon out to battle soon after, another Machop was released.

Fist ran to Bubbles and let out a barrage of punches, all swiftly dodged by Bubbles, but the last, sending him up the hill in slight. Brick Break clashed with Mach Punch several times, until Bubbles went past and hit Fist in the face, and followed with water gun, which Fist ducked under, he then flipped over another and delivered and falling Mega Punch. He only hit the hard shell thanks to Withdraw, accurately aimed to send Bubbles flying to a post and rebound, bashing into Fist's and causing a cracking sound to ring as something in Fist cracked.

_"17 Seconds!" _Osaka had activated the timing system on the Pokedex, only god knows how though. Chihiro fed Bubbles a potion.

"Go Kick!" The other man yelled.

Kick started with a Low Kick which Bubbles jumped to avoid, opening the venue for a devastating Mega Kick which sent Bubbles crashing to the hill behing him. Kick ran to Bubbles with the intent to deliver a finishing move. Bubbles got up slowly.

"You can do this Bubbles!" Chihiro shouted out. Suddenly a light encompassed the Pokemon, his limbs and body grew out, his tail grew considerably and his skin darkened.

_"Bubbles evolved into Wartortle, congratulations!"_

As the Machop closed in on Bubbles he released a powerful Water Gun, sending Kick to the air. Bubbles hit it with a Tackle to finish, Kick staggered for a bit before he fell to the ground.

_"17.5 Seconds!"_

"YES YES YES!" The second man screamed in joy, "You've been defeated brother! The kick is indeed stronger!"

The first man walked to Chihiro and dropped to his knees before her, "You have fought brilliantly, for that you deserve my beloved Fist, I pray you use him better than I." Chihiro took the pokeball form the man. The two girls walked over the hill together, with the same air that one may walk away from a roller-coaster they had just ridden. Seemingly rushed and premature in leaving to them both.

"That was fun Osaka, I'm so glad we went," She revealed to the girl walking beside her. All of her original protest being forgotten in place of the exhileration associated with battle. Neither girl knew that Kagura had passed by the road beside the hill while they were inside, and she was heading towards Cerulean. They chatted through the rest of the journey, and reached Cerulean a few hours after the sun had set.

_Author's Notes: Not so much to say about this one. I merely told some more adventure from the girls. I'm contagiously sick at the time of finishing(Dec. 9), so all of Friday will be spent at home and I hope to make good progress on this and Ohyama's Somewhat Improbable Memories. With nobody to read through what I have written, I post as is._


	7. Team D

For those forgetful people(like me) here are the teams:

Osaka: Ivysaur(Salad), Magikarp, Ratata

Chihiro: Wartortle(Bubbles), Machop(Fist), Butterfree, Pidgy

Kagura: Charmander?(Dragon), Ghastly(Shade), Pikachu(Bolt)

...

In a certain Cerulean Inn Chihiro and Osaka were preparing for sleep.

"Okay Osaka, we have the money to stay here tonight, but we need the money from beating the Gym Leader, so do your best tomorrow," Chihiro requested of the girl. To be honest, when she compared serself to Osaka, she felt slightly inadequate, even though they only battled back in Viridian. Before this journey she wouldn't have thought anyone could feel inferior to her at anything.

The light in the Inn had already gone out, obscuring the details. The two girls slept in the same bed, being large enough for them to have their own comfortable spots on it. Chihiro had a clear mission in mind for the next day, to capture the pokemon that had been eluding young trainers such as herself. The elusive Abra. As she ran battle scenario through her head, she realized she didn't know much about the pokemon. She'd heard it had the power to teleport, something many found hard to combat. She continued to think about this as sleep came onto her.

...

Kagura was leaning against a fence near the outskirt of the city looking it over. It, like Pewter, was truly a city, something to get used to after living in Pallet. From her position she could see the police station and a hospital, along with urban housing. She had been going to sleep outside, but had learned from her recent folly, and had a plan to prevent theft and attack. It was quite simple really: get Shade to do it. She released Shade from her pokeball.

"Ghosts don't sleep right?" She inquired, Shade shook his head to indicate no, they don't.

"Then you're keeping watch, night." She laid her sleeping bag on the ground and was soon sleeping.

...

At a base out of the city, two men were standing before the large, feline eyes glowing in shadows, being briefed on their mission.

The eyes focused on the first man, "You are recruiting in Cerulean Carl," they then turned to the latter, "You, Blind, are focusing on the mystery of Cerulean Cave, we can only trust the highest of recruits for this."

Blind snapped at the eyes in his gritty voice, "I told you, I am not a member, I work alongside Team D., not as part of it.

"Sure you do, it's cute that you think that."

"What? That is exactly how it-"

"Pencils fly into the promise land in explosions of cheese!"

"I hate you."

...

Chihiro yawned as she woke up. She had decided to trust that Osaka could get around and locate the gym leader just fine, and had decided to leave without notifying the other girl as she slept. She walked through the lobby and out of the building.

The pleasant feelings of morning weren't missed by Chihiro this time around. Pidgy tweeted cheerfully from the trees, and the air had the unmistakable feeling of life that it always seemed to in the mornings of spring. _A teleporting pokemon huh? _She mused to herself, _I need to sneak attack it, and prevent it from escaping then. _Having reached her conclusion she released Pidgy and Butterfree from their pokeballs, and starting scouring the hilly region north of cerulean 's city limits. She encountered several pokemon, each being avoided or doing it's own avoiding, before finally spotting Abra, floating above the ground. She quieted at the sight of it, and Butterfree rested on her shoulders as she got a Pokeball our of her bag. The Abra was downhill from her position about halfway to the bottom, and had its back turned, a good spot, she decided.

Pidgy jetted from behind her into Quick Attack as Chihiro launched down scarcely avoiding the meeting of ground to feet and passing by the Abra just after Pidgy hit it and it was on its way to the ground. As she passed mere feet from it, Butterfree unleashed Sleep Powder, and as both entities dropped to the ground Chihiro's pokeball was thrown with a precision that hit Abra directly on its forehead. The Abra was captured with a little difficulty on the pokeballs part. Chihiro landed on her feet coolly. Unnoticed by the girl, Blind was leaning against a sole tree, having watched the entire short spectacle. He began a very audible clapping and started walking from the tree. As he did Pidgy was enveloped in the same light as Bubbles and Salad had been, and grew larger.

Chihiro noted that he was likely approaching middle age, and was quite thin. The normally mundane set of black jacket, white shirt and black jeans somehow gave him an air of variance. Most notably, and drawing her gaze's focus, was his black, but slightly tinted purple hair, along with a stunnignly dark and quite thick blindfold, a D. being stitched where his right eye would normally be.

_"Pidgy evolved into Pidgeotto, congratulations" _The Pokedex's familiarly small voice cried out as Chihiro returned both of her pokemon to their pokeballs.

"That was pretty good girl, if you improve you might make an excellent pokemon hunter," He claimed as he walked toward her. _How can he see anything with that cloth around his eyes? And what's a pokemon hunter, anyway? _Chihiro was aware of a number of pokemon related professions, but this wasn't one of them, and the man in front of her didn't appear to have any trouble getting places. _Oh, but I can't really ask about the cloth. Maybe he's blind and just had a lot of practice, or __he's__ badly scared from some accident? Asking would probably be rude..._

"Surprised you do not know," Blind began, "A poke... first, are you hungry? I would hate to waste this apple." Chihiro neglected to eat breakfast in her haste and excitement to take the challenge of capturing an Abra and was indeed hungry. She gratefully took the apple from his gloved hand and began eating. "Well, a pokemon hunter is someone who devotes their career or even lives to tracking and capturing rare and elusive Pokemon," He began again, "They are often paid good money by pokemon collectors or organizations like the police force to provide pokemon. In my prime, I was a terrific pokemon hunter, if you do not mind my bragging," He continued, "I recognize your potential though, you might really be able to make it in that kind of business." The first thought, for some reason, that came to mind in response was "_Looks like I can beat Osaka in something. Wait, what?"_

Suddenly Blind's face was taken by a stunned look, one which jolted Chihiro out of thought, "Nice meeting you, but I have to go," He started to leave, but then turned back, "Oh, I did not catch your name, I go by Blind."

_"I can see why," _She thought before responding, "Chihiro. My name is Chihiro"

Following this Blind dashed away, eventually being lost from view in the hilly area. After watching she headed back to town _That man was strange, kind of like that little girl. He's a lot more mysterious though, _Not knowing of Kagura's encounter, she believed this to be true. She walked back through the hilly regions, trees, pokemon and trainers all scattered about.

Blind lent against a rugged cave's exterior, talking to a small blond girl in a pink dress.

"Remember, there's always the slim chance we're being watched, so call me #1 while we're here, kay?" The girl requested in her cheerfully carefree voice.

"Well #1, the psionic barrier around the place seems impenetrable, not many know it though, the place is hell to get to. A single pokemon knowing surf, fly and dig is insane."

"Anything new on Team C. or Team D.?"

"Nothing you don't already know I'm afraid to say, but Team D. seems to be recruiting right know."

"That's not a good sign," She thought for a moment, "I see you met Chihiro?"

...

"The challenge of nugget bridge?" Kagura asked the man.

"Yes, you fight four trainers in a row, and get a nugget for each time you win. If you beat them all you fight the final trainer, and have the opportunity to receive the grand prize. Up for it?"

"You bet I am!" The word that had mostly spurred Kagura's enthusiasm was "challenge", not "nugget", as it would have been for most people. Money just didn't seem to hold the same lure when in her position anyway.

She seeped through the four trainers with ease, they were below her skill level, and then she reached the final trainer. It was a man with a orange-yellow jumpsuit which had a D. printed on it, with sunglasses. Both let out their Pokemon immediately. Kagura let her Charmeleon, Dragon, out and the man released a Koffing.

Koffing started with Rollout, which Dragon jumped to avoid, then came by with another, which Dragon combated with Metal Claw. Each jumped back slightly on the bridge, creating a distance suitably for ranged attack . Flamethrower and Shadow Ball clashed, and after a small stagger, the shadows drove the flames aside and knocked Dragon back. Koffing launched sludge, which was dodged by a serious of flips and other acrobat actions by Dragon, who followed with a Smoke Screen, and finished the job with Metal Claw.

"Hah! I win! So what's the grand prize?" Kagura demanded of the man as the smoke cleared, she didn't really care all that much. She battled for adreniline and, to a lesser degree, bragging rights.

The man walked up to Kagura, "You get a very special privilege! You have the opportunity to join Team D.," He informed her, "You won't have to do all that much really. Deliver such and such parcel, catch such and such pokemon or pay so and so a visit. We just need good trainers for it, and there are all kinds of benefits. All the TMs and items, including evolutionary, you could ever need, and a certain power-booster known as Rare Candy. You might not want to show your face before some police stations, but it's just fine.

"Well-" She hastily began, but then paused in mid-sentence _"That does sound nice, but avoiding the police? Still, just look at the moves his Koffing knew, I could evolve Bolt and... No it's just to shady. Think about it." _The man saw Kagura was still not making a decision, and so started again.

"You might even get your hands on a legendary you know," He stated, "The pokemon who can learn any move, the bird with the power of the sun itself. You'll find us a very respectable organization. The pays terrific also, we sponsored this, and give nuggets away so freely, you see?"

_"Legendary? Good money, items and power. It sounds terrific, like he said," _A feeling of mixed excitement and caution filled her, _"The power, is that really what I won't as a trainer? Avoiding police has an extra tab of adrenaline. It sounds... great" _Her mind flashed to her meeting with Shade, and the adventure that led to his capture,_"That is what I want as a trainer, I wouldn't trade that for the world." _She looked to the man and said what followed very slowly, "I really don't think so, sorry."

"Too bad, you have good potential, this won't be the only offer, just think about it." He then let a smoke bomb drop, and vanished after before the smoke cleared. Loving his flashy exists.

"_I'm a great trainer on my own, aren't I?" _

...

Chihiro had one more stop to make before returning to the inn, hopefully to find Osaka awaiting her, Torrent Badge in hand. She was expecting a letter, and needed to stop by the post office. She did so late in the evening and she was the only customer present as a result. As Chihiro walked in and approached the counter where a teenager boy with a bit of an acne problem was behind the desk, looking quite bored at this point and focusing on the clock, likely waiting for the time he could return home.

"Hello, it there any mail for Chihiro Inoue?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll get it," He draggedly replied. It had just arrived, and was fresh in his mind. He turned behind him, and took a parcel from a cabinet labeled I. He looked it's exterior over a bit, and then handed it over to Chihiro, honestly feeling sligthly cool that he knew right off, though it was easily explained.

Chihiro opened the letter and began to read it on the spot.

_Dear Chihiro,_

_Glad to hear your doing well, and yes I do still paint, it's relaxing. I think I'll always like star gazing more though. You can't convince me to go off adventuring so easily, but I have considered a few things recently. Have you heard of Pokemon Contest? They're competition for pokemon where they try to appeal to judges in categories like beauty and coolness. It's almost like a new fad for coordinators, __that's what the people who have their pokemon compete in the contests are called__, become stars __like the big time battlers in tournaments. I'm a big fan of someone in the cute section, Miss Sakaki has mastered the art if you ask me, and she's only about our age! The Slateport festival was really fun._

_Your Friend,_

_Kaorin_

_PS Good luck with the badges!_

Chihiro smiled while reading, and also as she took her leave. It was a shame that, even before this adventure, she could only see Kaorin during summer, when visiting her Aunt in Slateport. She was still thinking about her friend as she entered the Inn, and found Osaka holding up the Torrent badge in front of her face.

"Finally, I've been like that for almost two hours," Osaka complained as her arms dropped.

"You really didn't give up on it? I guess that's just how you are Osaka," Chihiro smiled, and then started to giggle, "_Even without my __brother __or Kaorin, it's hardly lonely with Osaka around. She's becom__ing__ a good friend__._

Her smile was mirrored by Osaka, as she had similar thoughts, "_I sure do miss Tomo and Yomi, but Chihiro is fun to hang around with too."_

_Author's Notes: Yes we didn't focus on Osaka at all, I think I may fall into a habit of including Chihiro and maybe even Kagura as equally important to the story as Osaka or more so. I may rewind next chapter to show Osaka's Gym battle. _


End file.
